Behind the Mask

My shoulders and arms were being held down by more than one pair of hands. I wriggled and screamed, trying desperately to free myself.

I heard my name softly repeated over and over until I quit screaming. I opened my eyes and saw my mother leaning over me.

"Oh, thank God." She sighed, holding my face in her hands. Everything was so white behind her, I could just barely make out the shadowed features of her face. 

I felt one pair of strong hands holding me still and searched for their owner. His face was somewhat hidden like Mom's, and a bit out of focus. I felt butterfly wings in my tummy.

"It's okay. You're safe." He said.

I blinked once. It was barely a whisper. "Greg?"

He squeezed my hand. "It's Chase."

I frowned at the mistake and hated myself for believing my brother was there.

"Do you need anything, honey? Water maybe?" Mom continuously combed my hair with her fingers.

I looked around me and discovered the tubes plunged into my arm and wrapped around my nose. A thin blanket covered my bony knees in a hospital gown.

My throat was scratchy and dry like a desert. "Yes, please." 

Mom was happy and eager to help. She left me with Chase, still squeezing my hand. My eyes could focus on him now, and I was ready for him to drop the good guy act when my mother was gone.

"You look like hell." He observed.

"Thanks." 

Chase was in his casual clothes, looking sleep deprived. I saw the sun slanting through the window and onto his shoes. "It's good you called me last night. That could've been real messy, Liv."

Last night? Right, I was at the restaurant when I saw those two guys and...

My eyes pierced through Chase. "Where is he?"

Chase leaned away from my harsh stare. "Who? Liv, you gotta lie down, okay?" I attempted to fight his hold on my arms.

"Peter. Where is he? Is he here?" I wanted to scream again but my throat was too dry. "Where is he?"

Mom returned with a cup of water and a nurse on her tail. I still fought Chase's hold.

"Is everything alright, Olivia?" The nurse peered over his glasses to see me clearly.

"Peter Parker." I spit it out. "Is he here?"

The nurse was puzzled. "I don't know off the top of my head, but I can check if you'd like? Was he with you?"

Oh, who was I kidding? Peter wasn't in the hospital. Anything could have happened overnight. I had to try and stay calm before I said something I didn't want to say. "No, it's okay. I'm sure he's fine."

Mom leaned in closer. "Was he with you, honey?"

"Yes, I was with him. We were out to dinner. What happened to me?"

Chase matched a glance with Mom and then shook his head. "He drugged your drink."

I gulped. "Oh."

"We didn't even know he was with you until now. You said his name is Peter Parker?" The nurse started scribbling down the name.

"No, no!" I said quickly. "Peter didn't drug my drink. It was another guy, in dark clothes."

"How long have you known him?" Mom asked me. "Peter?"

I opened my mouth, but Chase answered for me. "A little over a month. They live in the same building."

"Peter did not drug my drink." I said.

"You need more rest, honey." Mom was on the verge of tears. "We'll talk more in a little while."

"But he didn't do it!"

"I'll stop back in later." The nurse motioned for Mom to follow her out of the room.

I dropped my head into the squishy pillows.

"He's a creep, Liv. I know it's hard to believe now." Chase was still holding my hand.

I tugged it away. "Chase, you don't understand. Peter's in trouble."

"He will be when we find him."

"No." I bit my lip almost through the skin. "He's in real trouble. Like I don't even know if he..." What if it was already too late to help? "I asked you to help Spiderman because..." Was I really going to say it?  "Peter is Spiderman."

Chase snickered. "Son of a bitch! Is that how he gets you into bed with him?"

"He doesn't need to drug my drink to get me into bed with him." I said, watching Chase's nostrils flare. "And I'm not kidding around."

"Okay, so Parker is the Spider. Where is he now? Where was he to save you?" Mocking me, as usual.

They did something with him, they kidnapped him or knocked him out or something along those lines. "It was the people out to get him. They want to kill him, and they drugged my drink so I didn't get in the way."

Chase still looked skeptical.

I didn't have time to convince him. "That means they know his real identity! I have to make sure he's okay." I started to roll out of bed, remembering the tube in my arm.

"Wait, wait." Chase caught the tube arm. "You can't leave."

"I can't just sit here!"

"There's nothing you can do now." Chase forced me back down on the bed.

"No!" The intense anxiety was starting to cloak over me. "Chase, you're hurting me."

He loosened his hands a bit. "I won't let you get involved."

"What?!" 

"Don't you get it? If he really is who you say he is, they'll kill you next time."

I almost laugh at the actual concern shaping his features. "Chase, I love him."

"All the more reason to back off. They'll use you against him, I've seen it before. You can't mess around with these guys, they're dangerous."

I considered his warning, but I couldn't leave Peter alone, if he was alone. I was the only one that could help him, I knew who he was.

But now Chase did, too.

"You can come stay with me for a while, until --"

"No way!"

He finished anyway. "Until things cool down."

Mom returned with a chocolate chip cookie from the cafeteria, ending our conversation. I wasn't giving in that easily.

. . . . . . . .

I scurried up the five flights of stairs, Chase trailing behind. He was definitely in better shape than I was, but I was used to climbing them daily.

We made it to the floor, and I eyed Peter's room down the hall. Chase grabbed my sleeve with his fingertips.

"Be careful, Liv." He huffed. 

I shrugged him off. "Since when do you care?"

Chase insisted that he come along after I was discharged from the hospital. He changed into his uniform with a gun slung on his hip. I knew he wouldn't care for Peter's safety, but maybe his image. The cop that helped rescue Spiderman and saved the city. It worked well with his ego.

I stopped at the door and glanced at Chase down the hall. I fumbled with the key in the lock and pushed the door open.

He wasn't there, though his bed looked slept in. The glass doors to the balcony were swung open, the breeze flapping the curtains.

I swallowed hard and walked over to sit on his bed. How was I supposed to know where he was, if he was okay? I tried convincing myself he was wandering around the city burning off steam, but he would have told me by now.

I lied back in his bed, wishing he was there beside me. I could almost feel it, his warmth and comfort. Almost.

I opened my eyes after living my short fantasy and my heart skipped a few beats.

Peter was on the damn ceiling!

He pressed a finger to his lips when I was ready to scream.

"Liv? You okay?" Chase poked his head in the room.

I shot up and wiped the tears in my eyes. "Fine, yeah. I think I'll stay here until he gets back."

Chase looked at me like I was an innocent child. "He's not coming back soon, Liv."

It took alot of effort to keep my eyes off the ceiling. "I just want to wait around for a while, okay?"

Chase threw his hands in the air. "Fine. Do whatever you want. Tell the Spider I say hello." He walked slowly incase I asked him to wait. I didn't.

Once he passed the doorway, I hurried to close it behind him. Before I could turn around, Peter shot two spurts of web and pinned me to the door by my wrists. We stared at eachother for a few seconds until his face was inches from mine.

"Hi." I finally whispered.

"Hi."

I looked over his face as he looked over mine. We were both fine, and it was just short of a miracle. 

"You're alive." I added.

He almost laughed. "So are you."

I flexed my wrists trapped under his hold on me. He lifted his hands and slipped his fingers through mine.

"What happened?" I asked, already breathless.

"I got away," He said plainly. "But I couldn't come back for you."

"I know." I said before he could look guilty. "I wouldn't expect you to."

"Isn't that what you want? Someone you can expect to come back for you?" He questioned. "I can't do that anymore."

"I don't need to be saved." I told him. "I already know what comes with being with you. I won't walk out on you now."

Peter rubbed his thumb over my palm. "You should."

"I won't." I promised.

Peter raised an eyebrow. "So sure?"

I leaned my head forward to steal a kiss, but he playfully leaned away.

I put on a disappointed pout and grew warm when he pressed his whole body against me in a heated kiss.

One thing led to another, and after Peter tore the web off of my hands I was lying back on his bed again. I remembered how just before this I was imagining his body so close, and here it was in real life.

"Do you understand how serious this is now?" I asked, drawing circles on his chest. "Now that they know your true identity and how to get to you?"

"I understand." He said, leading his lips up my throat. "I'm just trying to figure out why you told your cop about me?"

"I didn't know if you were in danger." I wondered if he felt my pulse rise. "It wasn't right of me, I'm sorry."

"You're lying." He mentioned, reading my pulse like a book. "Unless I drive you that crazy?"

The police scanner interrupted us with its beeping, signaling some kind of problem that made Peter's eyes spark with interest, something about a small building on fire.

I forced his lips into another kiss. I couldn't let him go ever again, not after this. "Don't leave."

"I'll come back, I promise."

I hooked my fingers into his shirt. "No."

Peter brushed the back of his fingers over my cheek, and I thought he was going to stay with me.

He broke off the stare and leaned away a little. "I'll come back." He repeated, though he hesitated in snatching up his suit.

"You don't have to go." I rephrased. "Stay with me, you'll be safe."

"No, I have to." He convinced himself. "I can't hide forever."

"Peter!" I used his name to help him forget Spiderman and the control he had over himself. "Please?"

Unfortunately, Spiderman won that one.

I watched the news channel continuously until 11 o'clock. They reported the fire to be out, and the family business burned to the ground. Everyone inside was safe, and one man expressed his gratitude towards Spiderman for saving his family.

I turned off the TV and felt a pit in my stomach. If I talked Peter out of going, that man and his family might not have been so lucky.

I realized then, who was I to talk Peter out of doing what he did best, even if it meant dangerously risking both of our lives?

I thought it was risky getting involved with a police officer, but nothing could have prepared me for this. And I knew it wasn't even close to being over.

My relationship with Peter was sweet and carefree. My relationship with Spiderman was a completely different story.