Behind the Mask

I dropped the backpack on the ground and froze. I thought of Greg and wondered if he had as much time as I did to know he was about to be shot.

Peter growled an insult at Chase and attempted to intervene. All Chase had to do was whip his gun around and aim it.

"Watch yourself, Spider." Chase warned him. "I won't hurt her, but I could care less if you lived or not."

Peter cautiously raised his hands. "Then do it."

"Peter!" I squeaked.

Chase glared at me, then focused on Peter again. He adjusted the aim of his gun. "So you see where I'm going with this."

Peter nodded, at ease under the threat of a loaded gun. "Might as well get it over with."

Chase laughed the laugh of a mental patient. "If you insist."

"Stop, please!" My sobbing should have been enough. "Chase, that's a gun...a gun! Don't you know that?"

"Enough of the drama, Liv. Yes, I know it's a gun. I'm going to use it to solve this little problem of yours."

"No!" I nearly dropped to my knees. "You can't do that!"

The gun swung back around to meet my face. "Shut up! I said I won't hurt you, but watch your mouth before I change my mind."

"Hey," Peter forced the attention back to himself. "Don't talk to her that way. You want me, remember?"

"This has nothing to do with you." Chase corrected. "I'm doing what's best for Olivia."

I decided he was crazy. "Pulling a gun on anyone is not what is best for me."

"Dammit, Liv be quiet!" Chase flicked at the trigger. "Once he's out of the way, everything will go back to normal. You can't have a normal life with him."

"That gives you no right to kill him!" I shouted.

"You know it's true! You wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for him."

Peter butt in. "He's right, Olivia." I met Peter's eyes and sensed he was trying to tell me something. "That's exactly why I didn't want to get involved with you."

It hurt me at first, but I couldn't believe him. "Chase, this isn't like you. I know you couldn't shoot anyone."

Chase laughed again. "You'd be surprised, babe."

I looked to Peter again, all out of ideas. His eyes trailed down the front of me to the pocket of my jeans. Inside was the switchblade from the man in the elevator. He'd given it to me in the stairwell.

"Time's almost up, Parker." Chase said. "You better get out of here before I shoot."

Peter was being so stubborn. I knew he wouldn't go. "I won't leave her here with you."

"Peter, go." I insisted, biting my bottom lip. "I'll be fine."

"Wait a minute," Chase appeared as if he'd seen a new light. "Why should I let you run when I can just end this now?" Chase began to walk closer to Peter, gun still pointed.

"Chase, enough." I begged. "Leave him alone."

"I bet I'll do it much faster than those creeps that are after you." Chase held the gun inches from Peter's face.

"Please stop!"

"If you ask me, I'd say I'm doing you a huge favor."

I had no choice. I stepped up behind Chase and plunged the blade into his shoulder.

Chase hunched over and snarled like an animal. He looked at the blood seeping through his shirt and found a new target in me.

"Alright." Chase grumbled. "We can play games." He bent over to pick up the blade that my shaky hands dropped. Now Chase had the only two weapons in the room.

"Hey," Peter chanted.

Chase turned around and Peter released a mask of webbing from his wrists. Chase's face was concealed behind it. He pulled the trigger to his gun in the frantic attempt to free himself, but the bullet hit the wall.  

Peter executed the same move that knocked the man out in the elevator. Chase's nose bled as well, but he lay harmlessly on the floor. 

"Jesus Christ..." Peter sighed, mumbling something else to himself.

"Y-you're just going to leave him there?" I stuttered.

"You got any better ideas?"

I didn't.

Peter then scooped me up and raced us down the hallway into the stairwell. He jumped several stairs at a time until we reached the lobby.

"We have to split up."

I looked at him like he spoke a different language. "What?"

He started rambling to himself. "Dammit, this is exactly why I didn't want to get involved with you."

I blinked. "You meant that?"

"Yes, I meant it! You almost got killed because of me!"

"Who cares?" I argued. "Chase wouldn't have shot you anyway. We can't split up."

"We're splitting up."

"No!"

Peter pointed a finger in my face. "I'm over it, Olivia! I'm done being Spiderman, and I'm done being with you. I'm leaving the city."

Everything was happening so fast. "I'll come with you."

"No, there's no reason to flip your life upside down. You stay here. Aunt May will let you live with her for a while until things cool down again. Chase won't find you there." He was stroking the side of my face, but I was so angry with him I wanted to bite his fingers.

"You don't have to --"

Peter dropped his hand. "Believe it or not, I have no idea what to do anymore. And to be perfectly honest, having you around makes it harder for me to figure out."

"But --"

"That's the end of it." He said, avoiding eye contact. "I'll take you to Aunt May, and then I'm leaving."

"NO!" I shrieked, catching the attention of several people around us. "I am not going to let you run away without me, and I will never stay here without you."

He groaned and looked ready to yank his hair out. "Don't you get it? This is completely out of my control! God, you're so freaking stubborn!"

"It comes in handy." I folded my arms across my chest.

We stared at eachother, fuming for a few minutes in silence.

Peter broke it. "We don't have alot of time, so just..." He trailed off, leading me along beside him. 

And then the tears decided it was time to fall. "It isn't fair." I cried like a baby. Peter didn't comfort me, just held my hand in silence as we walked the few blocks to Aunt May's.

I calculated in my head how much time I had to change his mind. It wasn't much time at all.